Center pull dispensers for dispensing flexible material, such as paper and cloth towel, tissue and the like, are well known in the art. Center pull dispensers are provided to dispense material in the form of a continuous web from a center pull roll. Center pull rolls are also referred to as coreless rolls. Center pull dispensers are typically designed so that the center pull roll is upright within the dispenser with the center pull roll center axis oriented vertically. The center pull roll is not wound on a core and the web of material is unwound from an inner periphery of the coreless center pull roll. The unwinding occurs when a user pulls on the tail of the web of material which extends out of the dispenser. The radial thickness of the center pull roll gradually diminishes from the center pull roll inner periphery toward the center pull roll outer periphery as the material is pulled from the dispenser by users.
The web of material is typically divided into discrete sheets by spaced-apart, transverse lines of perforations. A friction force, or drag, applied by the dispenser to the material as the material is pulled from the dispenser by a user causes a single leading sheet to separate from the adjacent sheet along the perforation line.
Various low-paper indicators have been proposed for use with center pull dispensers. However, these indicators are reliant upon paper followers, linkages and complex parts which add cost and complexity to manufacture of the center pull dispensers. The marketplace for center pull dispensers is hyper competitive and small differences in dispenser price can be of great importance in customer purchasing decisions.
It would be a significant improvement in the art to provide a low-material-indicating center pull dispenser which would reliably provide information indicating whether the web of material wound into the center pull roll is running low, which would be simple to use and which would reduce manufacturing cost.